I have started teaching
on my own, and it's working out pretty well. I'm not confused or
anything, though I have to refer to my daily plan more often than I'd like,
mostly because I didn't plan it and I still haven't completely memorized the routine.
I'm going to start adapting the lesson plan tomorrow because the
activities Tara (the girl I'm filling in for) chose are a bit boring, won’t
take a whole lesson period, and the kids will hate them. Jeremy gave me
some other ideas that I think I'll follow, and if Tara doesn't like it, too
bad. I get that it’s not actually my
class, but at the same time the school doesn’t really care what activities we
do, so long as there are things to send home at the end of a lesson, so it
won’t matter much to the school or the parents either way.
Overall school is good,
though it’s getting a bit monotonous. I
really like my students, but I keep trying to remind myself not to get too
attached since they will only be my kids for another week. Once Tara comes back from her vacation, I’ll
move across the hall to Anna’s classroom and shadow her for a few days before
she leaves. I try to kind of keep an ear
out for her kids’ names when we’re in the hallway, and see what they’re like,
but it’s hard to tell from the two minutes of an overlapping bathroom break. Still, the kids I have are adorable and can
be really funny at times.
Tonight after work I went
grocery shopping and bought a bunch of American food because I still don't know
how to cook Korean food, or how to tell what the hell is in any of the
packages. So fruit loops and spaghetti it is. Not together
obviously, because that is gross. But then when I got home Holly and another
teacher, Shannon, were outside my door having just knocked, so I changed really
quickly and we ran out to their favorite wine bar, Mr. Smile. I know,
great name. I had dinner there, this really delicious tuna sandwich
(canned tuna is big here, oddly) and we all had a beer, and we just talked.
I really like both of them. Holly's going to be here another year
and a half, and I don't know how long Shannon's staying, but it's at least six months. We realized today that once all the teachers
who are done this month leave, I will be the person who's been here fourth
longest. Tara has been here longest, then Shannon and Holly who've been
here the exact same amount of time. Then me. Another girl got here
today though, and her first day at work is tomorrow, so I'll get to meet her
while she observes Shannon's classes. Or maybe she's observing Adeel
since that's the person whom she's replacing. He seems really nice so
it's sad that he's leaving.
As for the place we ate,
Mr. Smile, it’s a kind of place that I’ve noticed is pretty common here. There are a lot of coffee shops and wine bars
with really good atmosphere, and they seem to be far more popular for
socializing that the ones in the states.
I mean, they have Starbucks here too, of course, but people often opt
for other chains that we don’t have in the US that have a little bit more
ambiance. Plus, most of the coffee shops
and wine bars serve decent food that’s a bit more substantial than Starbucks
food, plus some delicious looking cakes and desserts. Korea seems to be pretty aesthetically
oriented, so for the most part these places are very cute and well decorated,
with similar but different décor themes.
I like these sorts of places so far.
Maybe I’ll have to start
using them for the free wifi until my internet gets set up… tomorrow.
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